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WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump says he plans to rapidly approve the Keystone XL pipeline from the Alberta oilsands to Nebraska, a major victory for the Canadian oil industry and a setback for environmental activists who believed they had the fight won.

In his fourth full day on the job, Trump signed an executive action that invites Calgary-based TransCanada Corp. to resubmit the controversial proposal that was rejected by Obama under fierce pressure from environmentalists in 2015. The company said it intends to do so.

“I’ve been on the record for many years supporting it because it means economic growth and good jobs for Albertans,” Trudeau said at a Liberal cabinet retreat in Calgary.

The pipeline has been opposed for eight years by environmental groups, who say it would contribute to climate change by making it cheaper to transport oil from the high-emissions oilsands. But Obama’s State Department found in 2014 that the project was unlikely to have a significant impact on carbon emissions or oilsands production, and oil-friendly Republicans say it would stimulate the economy and reduce dependence on the Middle East.

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Keystone XL was the primary source of bilateral tension during the tenures of Obama and Trudeau predecessor Stephen Harper. Trump, who called the project “vital” during his campaign, appears intent on avoiding Obama’s prolonged waffling.

His executive action instructs Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, a proponent of the pipeline and the former chief executive of ExxonMobil, to make a decision within 60 days of receiving TransCanada’s application. Trump spokesman Sean Spicer left no doubt about what the decision will be, saying the president wants it made “as quick as possible.”

“It’s too important for the jobs and the economy of our country,” Spicer said.

TransCanada stock rose 2.7 per cent on Tuesday.

Trump rejects the fact that the world is warming and the scientific consensus that human activity is causing the climate to change. He plans a broad assault on Obama’s environmental legacy, and he has appointed anti-regulation Scott Pruitt to lead his Environmental Protection Agency. His team has banned EPA employees from speaking to reporters, The Associated Press reported Tuesday, and instituted a freeze on environmental grants.

Trump told auto-industry executives earlier Tuesday that he is an environmentalist — “to a large extent” — but believes regulation is “out of control.”

After signing the Keystone XL order in the Oval Office, he said he would “renegotiate some of the terms, and if they’d like, we’ll see if we can get that pipeline built.” He did not say what kind of renegotiation he would like, though he demanded that the pipeline be constructed using American steel. TransCanada had planned to use a mix of American and foreign steel.

Trump's move is expected to be cheered by Republicans and some union groups who backed the projects. (Eric Hylden)

Trump also signed an executive action to revive the Dakota Access pipeline that has been protested by North Dakota’s Standing Rock Sioux tribe and their supporters, asking the Army Corps of Engineers to quickly grant final approvals. The Standing Rock Sioux said the action “violates the law and tribal treaties” and promised “legal action.”

Environmentalists vowed to continue their battle against Keystone XL, and protesters gathered Tuesday evening outside the White House. Cam Fenton, Canada strategist and spokesman for the advocacy group 350.org, said “there are still a lot of ways this pipeline can be stopped.”

He noted that the pipeline still faces legal and political obstacles at its Nebraska destination, where a vocal blue-collar group of farmers and ranchers — the kind of Americans whom Trump vowed to champion — remains staunchly opposed. And he said the presence of Trump will likely make more people willing to take a “last stand” and physically block construction, as protesters did to impede the Dakota Access pipeline.

During his campaign, Trump said he would demand from a “big, big chunk of the profits” generated by Keystone XL, “or even ownership rights.” He appeared to drop that pledge as voting day approached, suggesting he would simply rubber-stamp a project he describes as a “vital” job-creator.

“Great construction jobs,” he said Tuesday. Opponents note that almost all of the jobs would be temporary.

Keystone XL, described by TransCanada as an $8 billion investment, has been consistently popular in U.S. opinion polls. The pipeline would run nearly 1,900 kilometres from Alberta to Nebraska, where it would connect with an existing pipeline running down to refineries in Texas.

It would have the capacity to carry about 800,000 barrels per day, mostly crude from Canada but some from the Bakken region of North Dakota and Montana.

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